# Zippo vs Torch style lighter...



## JOEWEISER (May 9, 2008)

ok, from what ive read, everybody swears that you should use a torch style butane lighter. why is this? more even light? and if zippo is so bad, why are they in every cigar store in my area. ( and i dont mean smoke shop with cigarettes and all that.) supposedly you can taste the fuel on the initial light, which i cant, but i dont have a "trained" pallet. just wondering

joe


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## Acesfull (Dec 9, 2007)

i like to use a torch bc when ppl see me whip it out they think i smoke crack


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## Python (Dec 3, 2007)

From my understanding, the reason you are not supposed to use a Zippo style is because of the liquid fuel could contaminate the flavor of the cigar. I use a torch and I also got a torch insert for my Zippo so I could use the case and still have the torch. I use my original insert for lighting my pipe and have no ill effects from it using the new Zippo fluid formula, but I have never tried lighting a cigar with it. I might have to give it a try soon.

Have you tried using a torch lighter or matches instead of the Zippo and if you have and taste no difference, keep using the Zippo if you want. 

The main thing is that you are smoking for your enjoyment and no one else’s. If you enjoy using the Zippo, use it.


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## Python (Dec 3, 2007)

:lolat: 


Acesfull said:


> i like to use a torch bc when ppl see me whip it out they think i smoke crack


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## JOEWEISER (May 9, 2008)

Acesfull said:


> i like to use a torch bc i smoke crack


 :roll: :shock: did you mean to post this on crackreview.com? :lol: :lol:


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## JOEWEISER (May 9, 2008)

ive been meaning to get a torch... but just havent. i havent noticed an adverse flavor, but then again acid is my go to cigar, so i doubt i'd notice.


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## Python (Dec 3, 2007)

jjmolleck said:


> Acesfull said:
> 
> 
> > i like to use a torch bc i smoke crack
> ...


 :biglaugh: :biglaugh:


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## Cycleman (Jan 30, 2006)

Acesfull said:


> i like to use a torch bc when ppl see me whip it out they think i smoke crack


THAT made me spit on myself.... :???:


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## Whitefish (Apr 26, 2006)

Acesfull said:


> i like to use a torch bc when ppl see me whip it out they think i smoke crack


Yeah & then when they talk to you, they are positive you smoke crack!! :lol:


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## stanthetaxman (Oct 10, 2005)

I'm not familiar with a zippo, but does it have that butane-like flame, or just the "regular lighter" flame?
You need the butane-like to properly toast the head of the cigar before lighting.


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## HeavyMetal (Aug 3, 2005)

I've used a Zippo on occasion. If you don't allow it to burn for a few seconds you can taste the lighter fluid. Joe, as your taste develops you might start to notice this. A butane does burns hotter and gives a more even light. I'll light by literally torching the end until it glows - I hate that first "charcoal hit" and this avoids it.



StantheTaxMan said:


> I'm not familiar with a zippo...


Stan, Where you been for the last 75 years? Zippo is the iconic American lighter. The company started in 1932 and is literally world famous. Their early lighters are highly sought after. A friend of mine just bought a WWII engraved sterling silver model with soldier's name and division (the Big Red 1). He paid 500 and I thought that was cheap.


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## CRider (May 11, 2007)

Stan - Zippo's a regular lighter, just nicer packaging basically. I like Zippo's, but I won't use them to light my cigars...just like I don't use Bic's either. I can taste the fuel in some cigars, but not all. Until I got a good torch, I used wood matches :smile:


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## stanthetaxman (Oct 10, 2005)

HeavyMetal said:


> I've used a Zippo on occasion. If you don't allow it to burn for a few seconds you can taste the lighter fluid. Joe, as your taste develops you might start to notice this. A butane does burns hotter and gives a more even light. I'll light by literally torching the end until it glows - I hate that first "charcoal hit" and this avoids it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm not familiar with a zippo.
I should have clarified and said "I'm not familiar with a zippo IF they make a torch lighter?"


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## JAX (Sep 18, 2007)

Not much to add to this thread other than do yourself a favor, pick yourself up an inexpessive torch lighter. WAL-MART and most gas stations will have these readily available for under $5.

You can certainly spend upwards of $60 if you wanted to though.

Zippo's and regular lighters will leave the taste of gas on your stogies; which you will begin to notice with time as your tastes develop.


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## Acesfull (Dec 9, 2007)

You can get a Ronson at Wal-Mart for $3.. literally.. and they work like a champ. I picked up a triple torch at Jungle Jim's for $3.50. Cheap good lighters are you there. You just have to find them.


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## HeavyMetal (Aug 3, 2005)

Acesfull said:


> You can get a Ronson at Wal-Mart for $3.. literally.. and they work like a champ. I picked up a triple torch at Jungle Jim's for $3.50. Cheap good lighters are you there. You just have to find them.


Aces got the ticket. I have a triple flame that I got for around 4 bucks at the shop. I had a couple expensive Colibri's but I kept losing the damn things. I've had this one for 3+ years. Top is loose, plastic flame adjust broke off but it still hangs around like a bad girlfriend. Go figure.

Stan - misunderstood. Zippo and others do make a butane insert for zippos. They're single flame torches. Pretty nice, but under the principal that I'll lose any lighter over 5 bucks in a mattter of days I haven't bought one. This also holds true for cigar cutters, so I use the el-cheapo single blade cutters from the shop. I never seem to lose those.


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## KevinG (Apr 10, 2005)

When I want to light a cigar I just piss off Laura and the Cuban heat from her temper sparks the thing right up.

Regarding lighters, every expensive lighter I have ever bought breaks within the first month. Every cheap piece of crap lighter lasts longer than a cockroach after a nuclear war. You can't kill the freakin' things.

What I learned is this simple rule:

- Liquid fuel = BAD
- Gas fuel =GOOD

Bics actually have gas fuel. It just looks like liquid inside, but it is Butane.

- Butane, a highly flammable, colorless, easily liquefied gas used in cigarette lighters.

I use my Zippo when I want people to think I smoke weed.


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## Acesfull (Dec 9, 2007)

KevinG said:


> I use my Zippo when I want people to think I smoke weed.


 :lol: does it happen to have a certain "leaf" on it?


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## Citizen_Carrier (Apr 27, 2008)

Acesfull said:


> You can get a Ronson at Wal-Mart for $3.. literally.. and they work like a champ. I picked up a triple torch at Jungle Jim's for $3.50. Cheap good lighters are you there. You just have to find them.


Jungle Jim's has a great selection. Before my friend and I go to The Back Porch for food and beer, we usually hit JJ's for some cigars. We like that place because we can smoke afterwards.

There's what I use. That is one fine lighter. Got it from Thompson's, along with one of their Colibri Magnate closeout models.

Thompson doesn't seem to list the one I use anymore. The Magnate is a little harder to use than the Assault, and it doesn't seem to care for the Kuwaiti butane I'm forced to feed it.


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## Iceman (Aug 2, 2005)

When are you guys going to *MAN UP *and get a real lighter like the one I got at the Perdomo event??











Standing a full 3½-inches high, 2 1/4" wide, and 1" deep, this powerful triple flame torch holds almost a can of butane and can fire up your seegar in seconds.


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## Acesfull (Dec 9, 2007)

thats an uber crack lighter rick.. now I know why they call you "ICE"man


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## anton (Sep 2, 2005)

that lighter comes free with a box of Habanos right now

http://www.cigarsinternational.com/prod ... -HBB&cat=3


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## JOEWEISER (May 9, 2008)

well just for a quick update, i bought a colibri "firebird" for 10 bucks at my local shop... i dont notice a difference in flavor... but i will say it is considerably easier to light a cigar with the torch as opposed to puffing away with the zippo. thanks again for the help and advice

joe


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## Herzen (Jun 13, 2008)

Zippo fuel does, in my experience, give the cigar a horrible taste. I have the best of both worlds now: torch insert in a Zippo case. Super classy.


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## Python (Dec 3, 2007)

Herzen said:


> I have the best of both worlds now: torch insert in a Zippo case.


I have the same thing. It works great and can be bought for around $10.


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## lazylightningNY-cr (Jun 9, 2008)

i use a torch simply bc the slightest breeze always seems to put the zippo out, despite their claim to be "windproof"


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